Letterman Digital Arts Center, Digital arts complex in Presidio, San Francisco, US

The Letterman Digital Arts Center is a four-building complex in the Presidio, with 850,000 square feet of floor space around a 17-acre public park. The red-brick facades have tall white-framed windows and a projecting cornice; a white-railed terrace with green umbrellas sits at the base. The grounds were designed by Lawrence Halprin, the buildings by Gensler.

The center opened in 2005 on land that formerly housed a military hospital, and takes its name from a 19th-century physician. This location bridges the site's past role in wartime medicine with its current focus on digital innovation.

The public lobby in Building B displays costumes and props from Star Wars films that were created at this facility. Walking through, you see how the work done here connects directly to movies people have watched.

The 17-acre park behind the four buildings is open to the public, while Building B's lobby, with its Lucasfilm props and costumes, can be visited during regular business hours. The Yoda fountain stands on the patio by the Building B entrance, and a General Store a short walk away sells Star Wars merchandise and Skywalker Ranch food and wine.

The fountain by Building B holds a life-sized statue of Yoda, not a bronze one. The site was the Letterman Army Hospital, named for Dr. Jonathan Letterman, medical director of the Army of the Potomac in the Civil War. About half the concrete of the demolished hospital was reused in the new buildings, which earned LEED Gold certification.